1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control apparatus for a vehicle that is applied to a vehicle in which rotational driving force of an engine output shaft that is an output shaft of an internal combustion engine is transmitted to driving wheels via a rotating output shaft, and that has a normal mode and a power mode as vehicle driving characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-091073 (JP-A-2007-091073), for example, describes one such known control apparatus for a vehicle. One kind of typical related control apparatus for a vehicle, including that described in JP-A-2007-091073, has a normal mode and a power mode as vehicle driving characteristics in order to meet the high requirements of the driver for driving force. This control apparatus changes the vehicle driving characteristic by changing the output characteristic of the internal combustion engine according to the mode selected. More specifically, the opening amount of the throttle valve with respect to the accelerator operation amount is controlled to be larger when the power mode is selected than it is when the normal mode is selected. This kind of control enables a greater feeling of acceleration to be obtained when the power mode is selected than is obtained when the normal mode is selected.
In the related control apparatus for a vehicle described above, the vehicle driving characteristic is changed by changing the control characteristic of the opening amount of the throttle valve with respect to the accelerator operation amount so that it is different for the normal mode than it is for the power mode. Therefore, when the vehicle is accelerating with the accelerator pedal fully depressed, the following problem may arise. When the accelerator pedal is fully depressed, the throttle becomes fully open as a result, so the required output of the internal combustion engine is the same when the power mode is selected as it is when the normal mode is selected. In this case, the opening amount of the throttle valve is unable to be increased any more with respect to the accelerator operation amount. Therefore, even though the power mode is selected, a greater feeling of acceleration than when the normal mode is selected is unable to be obtained.